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Jumping Sharks and Dropping Mics: Modern Idioms and Where They Come From Kindle Edition

4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 24 ratings

Gareth Carrol presents a collection of "modern idioms", which have become a part of our vocabulary in the past 50 years or so. In most cases, idioms such as "raining cats and dogs", that colour our everyday communication, are deeply rooted in culture and history. However, just like words, new idioms emerge in language, and many have entered our vocabulary through, TV, movies and the internet. These modern idioms can be dated very precisely. Jumping Sharks and Dropping Mics finds the origins of these idioms, and charts their development.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gareth Carrol is a lecturer in linguistics at the University of Birmingham. His work looks at how people use and understand figurative language, including idioms, metaphor and other non-literal forms of expression. He has written articles on these topics for a range of publications. He lives in Birmingham with his wife and cat.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09QMPBHCK
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Iff Books (February 25, 2022)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 25, 2022
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1255 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 174 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 24 ratings

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Gareth Carrol
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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
24 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2022
    Do you ever wonder where the words and phrases you use all the time actually came from? Who said them? How did they become part of the everyday vocabulary? Wonder no more as the author takes you on a whirlwind journey of time and space…

    Well, perhaps not space, but he hit many of the more reachable places. Digging into TV and film, sports and pop culture, their birth and history of so many of the catch phrases I know, love and use (and some brand new) were explained. In a conversational style, each idiom was brought to life in bite-size snippets easy to consume and enjoy. And I did just that.

    If you love language and digging into the ‘why’, you will enjoy it too.

    *I happily reviewed this book
    **Thank you to NetGalley
  • Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2022
    I enjoyed this book. While there were a lot of expressions I hadn't heard before (mostly British), there was enough background provided for me to appreciate them. On the other hand, at times there was too much background. There was also some humor in the book, with the author imbuing a certain lightness and joy to the work. Thank you to Netgalley and John Hunt Publishing Ltd for the advance reader copy.

Top reviews from other countries

  • Arturo
    5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant book!
    Reviewed in Mexico on April 2, 2022
    Loads of lovely stories to discover behind popular idioms.
  • russell brockett
    5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely Stuff!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 2, 2022
    A great little book, explains the background and history of many well known phrases. Well written and entertaining.
  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars An exciting read for anyone who enjoys using language
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 16, 2022
    Liked everything about it. Entertaining and informative .
  • Mr Scott Hackett
    2.0 out of 5 stars Poor value
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 26, 2022
    ordered early as heard about on radio 4.
    poor value, very thin book not worth the 11.99

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